Sunday, 27 April 2014

A Field Trip to the Somerset Earth Science Centre and Searching for Fossils.

The eco-friendly Earth Science Centre at Radstock, Somerset.

This low-level building beside a small lake, has been built as an eco friendly educational centre. We paid a visit and listened to a morning lecture about the age and formation of our planet, with an afternoon walk along the River Mells to a quarry to look for fossils.

A volcanic bomb.

This piece of rock started life as lava thrown out of a volcano. The gaseous bubbles are still visible after the lava cooled millions of years ago. In the background can be seen Juliette, one of the informative lecturers, who talked us through the eras and ages of planet Earth.

Fossil hunting in Tedbury quarry.

These fossil hunters are members of the Devizes U3A Geology group. Most of us found something of interest, and I was the only one who found a complete bivalve shell. It is very small, millions of years old, and I have named him "Fred."

Three group members at the "De la Breche Unconformity."

This interesting structure has inclined and weathered limestone rock as the bottom layers, with more recent layers of sandstone deposited on top. These stratae took millions of years to form. Limestone and chert for road building was quarried here, which enabled geologists to discover this remarkable rock formation.

No comments:

Post a Comment

About Me

Still alive and kicking, and enjoying spending the winter months in Little England and the summer in Braunschweig, Germany. I have one life which I attempt to live with zest and enthusiasm, although I do get very tired. I suffer from the delusion that I'm only 40 years old and will never grow up. "Adventure before Dementia" is my motto. I am engaged in a continual battle with the German language, a battle, which I´m glad to say, I´m now winning.